DEPARTMENT OF AGRARIAN G.R. No.

162070
REFORM, represented by SECRETARY
JOSE MARI B. PONCE (OIC), Present:
Petitioner, Davide, C.J .,
Puno,
Panganiban,
Quisumbing,
Ynares-Santiago,
Sandoval-Gutierrez,
Carpio,
- versus - Austria-Martinez,
Corona,
Carpio Morales,
Callejo, Sr.,
Azcuna,
Tinga,
Chico-Nazario and
Garcia, J J .
DELIA T. SUTTON, ELLA T.
SUTTON-SOLIMAN and Promulgated:
HARRY T. SUTTON,
Respondents. October 19, 2005
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DECISION


PUNO, J .:


This is a petition for review filed by the Department of Agrarian Reform
(DAR) of the Decision and Resolution of the Court of Appeals, dated September
19, 2003 and February 4, 2004, respectively, which declared DAR Administrative
Order (A.O.) No. 9, series of 1993, null and void for being violative of the
Constitution.

The case at bar involves a land in Aroroy, Masbate, inherited by respondents
which has been devoted exclusively to cow and calf breeding. On October 26,
1987, pursuant to the then existing agrarian reform program of the government,
respondents made a voluntary offer to sell (VOS)
[1]
their landholdings to petitioner
DAR to avail of certain incentives under the law.

On June 10, 1988, a new agrarian law, Republic Act (R.A.) No. 6657, also
known as the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL) of 1988, took effect.
It included in its coverage farms used for raising livestock, poultry and swine.

On December 4, 1990, in an en banc decision in the case of Luz Farms v.
Secretary of DAR,
[2]
this Court ruled that lands devoted to livestock and poultry-
raising are not included in the definition of agricultural land. Hence, we declared
as unconstitutional certain provisions of the CARL insofar as they included
livestock farms in the coverage of agrarian reform.

In view of the Luz Farms ruling, respondents filed with petitioner DAR a
formal request to withdraw their VOS as their landholding was devoted exclusively
to cattle-raising and thus exempted from the coverage of the CARL.
[3]


On December 21, 1992, the Municipal Agrarian Reform Officer of Aroroy,
Masbate, inspected respondents land and found that it was devoted solely to
cattle-raising and breeding. He recommended to the DAR Secretary that it be
exempted from the coverage of the CARL.

On April 27, 1993, respondents reiterated to petitioner DAR the withdrawal
of their VOS and requested the return of the supporting papers they submitted in
connection therewith.
[4]
Petitioner ignored their request.

On December 27, 1993, DAR issued A.O. No. 9, series of 1993,
[5]
which
provided that only portions of private agricultural lands used for the raising of
livestock, poultry and swine as of June 15, 1988 shall be excluded from the
coverage of the CARL. In determining the area of land to be excluded, the A.O.
fixed the following retention limits, viz: 1:1 animal-land ratio (i.e., 1 hectare of
land per 1 head of animal shall be retained by the landowner), and a ratio of 1.7815
hectares for livestock infrastructure for every 21 heads of cattle shall likewise be
excluded from the operations of the CARL.

On February 4, 1994, respondents wrote the DAR Secretary and advised him
to consider as final and irrevocable the withdrawal of their VOS as, under the Luz
Farms doctrine, their entire landholding is exempted from the CARL.
[6]


On September 14, 1995, then DAR Secretary Ernesto D. Garilao issued an
Order
[7]
partially granting the application of respondents for exemption from the
coverage of CARL. Applying the retention limits outlined in the DAR A.O. No. 9,
petitioner exempted 1,209 hectares of respondents land for grazing purposes, and
a maximum of 102.5635 hectares for infrastructure. Petitioner ordered the rest of
respondents landholding to be segregated and placed under Compulsory
Acquisition.

Respondents moved for reconsideration. They contend that their entire
landholding should be exempted as it is devoted exclusively to cattle-raising.
Their motion was denied.
[8]
They filed a notice of appeal
[9]
with the Office of the
President assailing: (1) the reasonableness and validity of DAR A.O. No. 9, s.
1993, which provided for a ratio between land and livestock in determining the
land area qualified for exclusion from the CARL, and (2) the constitutionality of
DAR A.O. No. 9, s. 1993, in view of the Luz Farms case which declared cattle-
raising lands excluded from the coverage of agrarian reform.

On October 9, 2001, the Office of the President affirmed the impugned
Order of petitioner DAR.
[10]
It ruled that DAR A.O. No. 9, s. 1993, does not run
counter to the Luz Farms case as the A.O. provided the guidelines to determine
whether a certain parcel of land is being used for cattle-raising. However, the
issue on the constitutionality of the assailed A.O. was left for the
determination of the courts as the sole arbiters of such issue.

On appeal, the Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the respondents. It
declared DAR A.O. No. 9, s. 1993, void for being contrary to the intent of the 1987
Constitutional Commission to exclude livestock farms from the land reform program of the
government. The dispositive portion reads:
WHEREFORE, premises considered, DAR Administrative
Order No. 09, Series of 1993 is hereby DECLARED null and void.
The assailed order of the Office of the President dated 09 October
2001 in so far as it affirmed the Department of Agrarian Reforms
ruling that petitioners landholding is covered by the agrarian reform
program of the government is REVERSED and SET ASIDE.

SO ORDERED.
[11]

Hence, this petition.
The main issue in the case at bar is the constitutionality of DAR A.O. No. 9,
series of 1993, which prescribes a maximum retention limit for owners of lands
devoted to livestock raising.

Invoking its rule-making power under Section 49 of the CARL, petitioner
submits that it issued DAR A.O. No. 9 to limit the area of livestock farm that may
be retained by a landowner pursuant to its mandate to place all public and private
agricultural lands under the coverage of agrarian reform. Petitioner also contends
that the A.O. seeks to remedy reports that some unscrupulous landowners have
converted their agricultural farms to livestock farms in order to evade their
coverage in the agrarian reform program.

Petitioners arguments fail to impress.

Administrative agencies are endowed with powers legislative in
nature, i.e., the power to make rules and regulations. They have been granted by
Congress with the authority to issue rules to regulate the implementation of a law
entrusted to them. Delegated rule-making has become a practical necessity in
modern governance due to the increasing complexity and variety of public
functions. However, while administrative rules and regulations have the force and
effect of law, they are not immune from judicial review.
[12]
They may be properly
challenged before the courts to ensure that they do not violate the Constitution and
no grave abuse of administrative discretion is committed by the administrative
body concerned.

The fundamental rule in administrative law is that, to be valid,
administrative rules and regulations must be issued by authority of a law
and must not contravene the provisions of the Constitution.
[13]
The rule-making
power of an administrative agency may not be used to abridge the authority given
to it by Congress or by the Constitution. Nor can it be used to enlarge the power
of the administrative agency beyond the scope intended. Constitutional and
statutory provisions control with respect to what rules and regulations may be
promulgated by administrative agencies and the scope of their regulations.
[14]


In the case at bar, we find that the impugned A.O. is invalid as it
contravenes the Constitution. The A.O. sought to regulate livestock farms by
including them in the coverage of agrarian reform and prescribing a maximum
retention limit for their ownership. However, the deliberations of the 1987
Constitutional Commission show a clear intent to exclude, inter alia, all lands
exclusively devoted to livestock, swine and poultry- raising. The Court clarified
in the Luz Farms case that livestock, swine and poultry-raising are industrial
activities and do not fall within the definition of agriculture or agricultural
activity. The raising of livestock, swine and poultry is different from crop or tree
farming. It is an industrial, not an agricultural, activity. A great portion of the
investment in this enterprise is in the form of industrial fixed assets, such as:
animal housing structures and facilities, drainage, waterers and blowers, feedmill
with grinders, mixers, conveyors, exhausts and generators, extensive warehousing
facilities for feeds and other supplies, anti-pollution equipment like bio-gas and
digester plants augmented by lagoons and concrete ponds, deepwells, elevated
water tanks, pumphouses, sprayers, and other technological appurtenances.
[15]


Clearly, petitioner DAR has no power to regulate livestock farms which
have been exempted by the Constitution from the coverage of agrarian
reform. It has exceeded its power in issuing the assailed A.O.

The subsequent case of Natalia Realty, Inc. v. DAR
[16]
reiterated our ruling
in the Luz Farms case. In Natalia Realty, the Court held that industrial,
commercial and residential lands are not covered by the CARL.
[17]
We stressed
anew that while Section 4 of R.A. No. 6657 provides that the CARL shall cover
all public and private agricultural lands, the term agricultural land does
not include lands classified as mineral, forest, residential, commercial or
industrial. Thus, in Natalia Realty, even portions of the Antipolo Hills
Subdivision, which are arable yet still undeveloped, could not be considered as
agricultural lands subject to agrarian reform as these lots were already classified as
residential lands.

A similar logical deduction should be followed in the case at bar. Lands
devoted to raising of livestock, poultry and swine have been classified as
industrial, not agricultural, lands and thus exempt from agrarian reform. Petitioner
DAR argues that, in issuing the impugned A.O., it was seeking to address the
reports it has received that some unscrupulous landowners have been converting
their agricultural lands to livestock farms to avoid their coverage by the agrarian
reform. Again, we find neither merit nor logic in this contention. The
undesirable scenario which petitioner seeks to prevent with the issuance of the
A.O. clearly does not apply in this case. Respondents family acquired their
landholdings as early as 1948. They have long been in the business of breeding
cattle in Masbate which is popularly known as the cattle-breeding capital of the
Philippines.
[18]
Petitioner DAR does not dispute this fact. Indeed, there is no
evidence on record that respondents have just recently engaged in or converted to
the business of breeding cattle after the enactment of the CARL that may lead one
to suspect that respondents intended to evade its coverage. It must be stressed that
what the CARL prohibits is the conversion of agricultural lands for non-
agricultural purposes after the effectivity of the CARL. There has been no
change of business interest in the case of respondents.

Moreover, it is a fundamental rule of statutory construction that the
reenactment of a statute by Congress without substantial change is an implied
legislative approval and adoption of the previous law. On the other hand, by
making a new law, Congress seeks to supersede an earlier one.
[19]
In the case at
bar, after the passage of the 1988 CARL, Congress enacted R.A. No.
7881
[20]
which amended certain provisions of the CARL. Specifically, the new
law changed the definition of the terms agricultural activity and
commercial farming by dropping from its coverage lands that are devoted
to commercial livestock, poultry and swine-raising.
[21]
With this significant
modification, Congress clearly sought to align the provisions of our agrarian
laws with the intent of the 1987 Constitutional Commission to exclude
livestock farms from the coverage of agrarian reform.

In sum, it is doctrinal that rules of administrative bodies must be in harmony
with the provisions of the Constitution. They cannot amend or extend the
Constitution. To be valid, they must conform to and be consistent with the
Constitution. In case of conflict between an administrative order and the
provisions of the Constitution, the latter prevails.
[22]
The assailed A.O. of
petitioner DAR was properly stricken down as unconstitutional as it enlarges the
coverage of agrarian reform beyond the scope intended by the 1987 Constitution.

IN VIEW WHEREOF, the petition is DISMISSED. The assailed Decision
and Resolution of the Court of Appeals, dated September 19, 2003 and February 4,
2004, respectively, are AFFIRMED. No pronouncement as to costs.